The contest to lead Israel’s opposition bloc is intensifying.
Former prime minister and leader of the B'Yachad party Naftali Bennett called out Yashar! chairman Gadi Eisenkot in an interview ultra-Orthodox (haredi) news outlet Kikar Hashabbat's Yishai Cohen.
"His [Eisenkot's] draft outline is an insane mistake," Bennett said, adding that “[MK Moshe] Gafni and [MK Aryeh] Deri will once again run circles around the latest politician, and it will end with nothing.”
B'Yachad MK Ram Ben Barak also addressed Eisenkot’s rise during an interview with Anat Davidov and Nissim Mishal on 103FM, pointing to what he described as a key weakness that Eisenkot has yet to overcome.
“I think what Gadi Eisenkot is presenting, and he is also a friend of mine, is 180 degrees [away] from Netanyahu. The public is so fed up with what it is seeing that it wants the exact opposite. We have still not succeeded in convincing people that what matters now is experience.”
He added that “what Eisenkot lacks is experience in government work. This is not the military."
"Bennett has that experience, and the Yesh Atid MKs have it. I am certain that we will rise in the polls and ultimately form the government as well," he said. "I think that after seven years in politics, people understand that I am not leaving and that I am not constantly looking for where things are best for me and going there. Eisenkot and I speak, and he knows that this is not relevant.”
Bennett lacks strategical approach, says political adviser
Communications adviser and political strategist Ronen Tzur argued that Bennett’s approach toward Eisenkot reflected strategic uncertainty and an inconsistent campaign message.
“Bennett has found himself in a state of strategic helplessness during this campaign, which has also been reflected in his shifting attitude toward Eisenkot," Tzur said. "At first he attacked him, then he embraced him, and now he has returned to attacking him."
“It is evident that in the effort to crack the formula for gaining seats, Bennett is navigating without a map or stars, relying instead on gut feelings.”
Tzur said Bennett should have built a clear narrative around his candidacy and developed a focused campaign to support it, noting that “There are 90 days left until the election, and Bennett still has no strategy, no narrative, and his campaign is erratic."
Tzur assessed that unless the trend changes, Bennett could come under intense political pressure "to withdraw unless he charts an escape route from the single-digit danger zone.”
Former minister Haim Ramon said the attacks by Bennett and Yair Lapid were unlikely to help them recover lost Knesset seats and could instead benefit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Their situation is hopeless. They have no ability to stop the erosion, which could very well end with a single-digit result,” Ramon said.
According to him, “Their attacks on Eisenkot are effectively serving Netanyahu. They may hurt Eisenkot, but they will not gain seats.”
Ramon argued that Eisenkot should present the parties in the opposition bloc with an unequivocal demand: that they commit to supporting the leader of the bloc’s largest party as their candidate for prime minister.
“Everyone in the bloc must commit that the leader of the largest party in the bloc will be prime minister,” he said. “Anyone who is unwilling to say that apparently wants to leave other options open, options that do not include Eisenkot.”
Ramon said those options could include a demand for a rotation agreement, particularly from Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman, or a future attempt to join the Likud if Netanyahu steps down.
“Therefore, anyone who wants to provide certainty for change should prefer voting for Eisenkot, as long as the others refrain from stating the obvious, that whoever leads the bloc should be prime minister.”
B'Yachad lost support in July poll
On Wednesday, Eisenkot responded to Bennett’s declaration that he would formally designate Qatar an enemy state.
Speaking at a press conference at Kibbutz Nir Oz, Eisenkot said, “I hear the discussion and fully accept the role Qatar plays against Israel, in Gaza and in international activity. Israel must examine and make decisions regarding its policy toward Qatar, in consultation with the Mossad, the Shin Bet, and the National Security Council.
“I do not suggest that this be done as the result of a political gimmick, particularly by those who held influential positions as defense ministers and prime ministers and could have made decisions I say this as someone who is closely familiar with the issue from the cabinet," Eisenjot said. "It should be adopted as a serious decision and not as some kind of election statement. Qatar plays a very negative role against Israel.”
The public confrontation comes amid a shift in the distribution of Knesset seats within the opposition bloc.
A Maariv poll published on July 27 found that B'Yachad was continuing to lose support. However, the encouraging development for the opposition was that its voters were not moving to parties on the other side of Israel’s political divide. Most remained within the bloc, shifting primarily to Eisenkot’s Yashar!.
In the month before B'Yachad was established, Bennett 2026 averaged 24 seats in Maariv polls, while Yesh Atid averaged seven seats and was experiencing a slow but steady decline. Together, the two parties held a combined 31 seats.
At the same time, Eisenkot was experiencing the opposite trend. In the month before Bennett and Lapid joined forces, Yashar! averaged 13 seats. Since then, it has grown almost continuously, reaching a record 23 seats in the latest poll, 10 more than before B'Yachad was established.
At first glance, the numbers suggest an almost perfect exchange, with the 10 seats lost by B'Yachad appearing in Yashar!’s total. In practice, however, the picture is more complicated.
Not all of the seats shifted directly from Bennett and Lapid to Eisenkot. Some voters moved to other parties within the opposition bloc, while B'Yachad also gained support from other sources.
Maariv political commentator Mati Tuchfeld wrote last month that Bennett’s political difficulties were also affecting his partnership with Lapid. According to Tuchfeld, the alliance that had been presented as a “historic agreement” was beginning to become a political liability.
According to the report, signs of unrest are beginning to emerge among Lapid’s associates and within Yesh Atid. Party lawmakers, many of whom see their political futures threatened by the union, understand that if the trend continues, some of them may not return to the next Knesset.
As the threat to their political careers becomes more tangible, Tuchfeld wrote, loyalty to the agreement is also beginning to erode.
According to Tuchfeld, the threat to the partnership is no longer merely a theoretical scenario raised by political commentators, but a genuine concern within Yesh Atid.
He assessed that unless Bennett succeeds in stabilizing the party and developing a clear and consistent message, he may discover that giving up the exclusive fight for the premiership has become a painful political reality, not only for him, but also for Lapid and members of his party.
Eisenkot wants opposition to unite similarly to how the right-wing forms, says Tuchfeld
In an interview with 103FM, Tuchfeld said a growing number of political figures now believe Eisenkot is the candidate most likely to lead the opposition camp.
“In the end, people see the situation and what is happening in the opposition camp,” he said. “They see the trend, and the working assumption among all the pollsters in the political system is that Eisenkot will lead the bloc. He is continuing to rise, while Bennett and Lapid are continuing to fall.”
However, Tuchfeld said Eisenkot’s rise in the polls was also accompanied by concern that his potential partners would not accept his leadership.
“You can see signs of Eisenkot’s pressure over the possibility that his colleagues will not accept the outcome,” he said.
Tuchfeld recalled Eisenkot’s statement that a party receiving eight or nine Knesset seats could not demand the premiership.
According to Tuchfeld, Eisenkot is seeking to establish a principle under which all the parties in the opposition bloc would unite behind its largest party and a single candidate for prime minister, similar to the structure of Israel’s right-wing bloc.
“On the right, [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben-Gvir does not claim the crown, and Goldknopf does not claim it either, because they understand that Netanyahu leads the camp,” he explained.
“Eisenkot would like to create a situation in which it is clear that he leads the bloc and that everyone stands behind him. He is concerned that this has still not happened.”